The Soul Winner

170 Pages·2009·1.02 MB·English

The Soul Winner – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The
Soul
Winner

Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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The Soul Winner – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
The Soul Winner
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
PREFATORY NOTE......................................................................................................3
What Is It to Win a Soul?....................................................................................................4
Qualifications for Soul-Winning—Godward....................................................................20
Qualifications for Soul-Winning—Manward...................................................................34
Sermons Likely to Win Souls...........................................................................................44
Obstacles to Soul-Winning...............................................................................................58
How to Induce Our People to Win Souls..........................................................................65
How to Raise the Dead.....................................................................................................75
How to Win Souls for Christ............................................................................................86
The Cost of Being a Soul-Winner.....................................................................................98
The Soul-Winner's Reward.............................................................................................102
The Soul-Winner's Life and Work..................................................................................107
Soul-Winning Explained.................................................................................................120
Soul-Saving Our One Business.......................................................................................132
Instruction in Soul-Winning...........................................................................................145
Encouragement to Soul-Winners....................................................................................158

"The salvation of one soul is worth More than the framing of a Magna Charta
of a thousand worlds."—Keble

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The Soul Winner – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

PREFATORY NOTE
THIS volume is issued in accordance with a plan formed by MR. SPURGEON;
indeed, he had already prepared for the press the greater part of the material
here published, and the rest of his manuscripts have been inserted after only
slight revision. It was his intention to deliver to the students of the Pastors'
College a short course of Lectures upon what he termed "that most royal
employment"—SOUL-WINNING,—and, having completed the series, he
purposed to collect his previous utterances to other audiences upon the same
theme, and to publish the whole for the guidance of all who desired to become
soul-winners, and with the hope also of inducing many more professing
Christians to engage in this truly blessed service for the Saviour.
This explanation will account for the form in which the topic is treated in
the present book. The first six chapters contain the College Lectures; then
follow four Addresses delivered to Sunday-school teachers, open-air preachers,
and friends gathered at Monday evening prayer-meetings at the Tabernacle;
while the rest of the volume consists of Sermons in which the work of winning
souls is earnestly commended to the attention of every believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
For more than forty years, MR. SPURGEON was, by his preaching and
writing, one of the greatest soul-winners; and by his printed words he still
continues to be the means of the conversion of many all over the world. It is
believed, therefore, that thousands will rejoice to read what he spoke and wrote
concerning what he called "the chief business of the Christian minister."

(NOTE: The five sermons that follow were
not part of Spurgeon's original lecture
series. They were Sunday messages,
excerpted from Spurgeon's published
sermons and added by Spurgeon's
publishers, Passmore & Alabaster, to the
1903 edition of The Soul Winner.)

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The Soul Winner – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

What Is It to Win a Soul?
I PURPOSE, dear brethren, if God shall enable me, to give you a short course
of lectures under the general head of "THE SOUL-WINNER." Soulwinning is
the chief business of the Christian minister; indeed, it should be the main
pursuit of every true believer. We should each say with Simon Peter, "I go a
fishing," and with Paul our aim should be, "That I might by all means save
some."
We shall commence our discourses upon this subject by considering the
question—
WHAT IS IT TO WIN A SOUL?

This may be instructively answered by describing what it is not. We do not
regard it to be soul-winning to steal members out of churches already
established, and train them to utter our peculiar Shibboleth: we aim rather at
bringing souls to Christ than at making converts to our synagogue. There are
sheep-stealers abroad, concerning whom I will say nothing except that they are
not "brethren", or, at least, they do not act in a brotherly fashion. To their own
Master they must stand or fall. We count it utter meanness to build up our own
house with the ruins of our neighbours' mansions; we infinitely prefer to quarry
for ourselves. I hope we all sympathize in the largehearted spirit of Dr.
Chalmers, who, when it was said that such and such an effort would not be
beneficial to the special interests of the Free Church of Scotland, although it
might promote the general religion of the land, said, "What is the Free Church
compared with the Christian good of the people of Scotland?" What, indeed, is
any church, or what are all the churches put together, as mere organizations, if
they stand in conflict with the moral and spiritual advantage of the nation, or if
they impede the kingdom of Christ? It is because God blesses men through the
churches that we desire to see them prosper, and not merely for the sake of the
churches themselves. There is such a thing as selfishness in our eagerness for
the aggrandisement of our own party; and from this evil spirit may grace
deliver us! The increase of the kingdom is more to be desired than the growth
of a clan. We would do a great deal to make a Paedobaptist brother into a
Baptist, for we value our Lord's ordinances; we would labour earnestly to raise
a believer in salvation by free-will into a believer in salvation by grace, for we
long to see all religious teaching built upon the solid rock of truth, and not upon
the sand of imagination; but, at the same time, our grand object is not the
revision of opinions, but the regeneration of natures. We would bring men to
Christ and not to our own peculiar views of Christianity. Our first care must be
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that the sheep should be gathered to the great Shepherd; there will be time
enough afterwards to secure them for our various folds. To make proselytes, is
a suitable labour for Pharisees: to beget men unto God, is the honourable aim of
ministers of Christ.

In the next place, we do not consider soul-winning to be accomplished
by hurriedly inscribing more names upon our church-roll, in order to
show a good increase at the end of the year.

This is easily done, and there are brethren who use great pains, not to say arts,
to effect it; but if it be regarded as the Alpha and Omega of a minister's efforts,
the result will be deplorable. By all means let us bring true converts into the
church, for it is a part of our work to teach them to observe all things
whatsoever Christ has commanded them; but still, this is to be done to disciples,
and not to mere professors; and if care be not used, we may do more harm than
good at this point. To introduce unconverted persons to the church, is to
weaken and degrade it; and therefore an apparent gain may be a real loss. I am
not among those who decry statistics, nor do I consider that they are productive
of all manner of evil; for they do much good if they are accurate, and if men
use them lawfully. It is a good thing for people to see the nakedness of the land
through statistics of decrease, that they may be driven on their knees before the
Lord to seek prosperity; and, on the other hand, it is by no means an evil thing
for workers to be encouraged by having some account of results set before
them. I should be very sorry if the practice of adding up, and deducting, and
giving in the net result were to be abandoned, for it must be right to know our
numerical condition. It has been noticed that those who object to the process
are often brethren whose unsatisfactory reports should somewhat humiliate
them: this is not always so, but it is suspiciously frequent. I heard of the report
of a church, the other day, in which the minister, who was well known to have
reduced his congregation to nothing, somewhat cleverly wrote, "Our church is
looking up." When he was questioned with regard to this statement, he replied,
"Everybody knows that the church is on its back, and it cannot do anything else
but look up." When churches are looking up in that way, their pastors generally
say that statistics are very delusive things, and that you cannot tabulate the
work of the Spirit, and calculate the prosperity of a church by figures. The fact
is, you can reckon very correctly if the figures are honest, and if all
circumstances are taken into consideration if there is no increase, you may
calculate with considerable accuracy that there is not much being done; and if
there is a clear decrease among a growing population, you may reckon that the
prayers of the people and the preaching of the minister are not of the most
powerful kind.
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But, still, all hurry to get members into the church is most mischievous,
both to the church and to the supposed converts. I remember very well several
young men, who were of good moral character, and religiously hopeful; but
instead of searching their hearts, and aiming at their real conversion, the pastor
never gave them any rest till he had persuaded them to make a profession. He
thought that they would be under more bonds to holy things if they professed
religion, and he felt quite safe in pressing them, for "they were so hopeful." He
imagined that to discourage them by vigilant examination might drive them
away, and so, to secure them, he made them hypocrites. These young men are,
at the present time, much further off from the Church of God than they would
have been if they had been affronted by being kept in their proper places, and
warned that they were not converted to God. It is a serious injury to a person to
receive him into the number of the faithful unless there is good reason to
believe that he is really regenerate. I am sure it is so, for I speak after careful
observation. Some of the most glaring sinners known to me were once
members of a church; and were, as I believe, led to make a profession by undue
pressure, well-meant but ill-judged. Do not, therefore, consider that soul-
winning is or can be secured by the multiplication of baptisms, and the swelling
of the size of your church. What mean these despatches from the battle-field?
"Last night, fourteen souls were under conviction, fifteen were justified, and
eight received full sanctification." I am weary of this public bragging, this
counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils. Lay aside
such numberings of the people, such idle pretence of certifying in half a minute
that which will need the testing of a lifetime. Hope for the best, but in your
highest excitements be reasonable. Enquiry-rooms are all very well; but if they
lead to idle boastings, they will grieve the Holy Spirit, and work abounding evil.
Nor is it soul-winning, dear friends, merely to create excitement.
Excitement will accompany every great movement. We might justly question
whether the movement was earnest and powerful if it was quite as serene as a
drawing-room Bible-reading. You cannot very well blast great rocks without
the sound of explosions, nor fight a battle and keep everybody as quiet as a
mouse. On a dry day, a carriage is not moving much along the road unless there
is some noise and dust; friction and stir are the natural result of force in motion.
So, when the Spirit of God is abroad, and men's minds are stirred, there must
and will be certain visible signs of the movement, although these must never be
confounded with the movement itself. If people imagine that to make a dust is
the object aimed at by the rolling of a carriage, they can take a broom, and very
soon raise as much dust as fifty coaches; but they will be committing a
nuisance rather than conferring a benefit. Excitement is as incidental as the dust,
but it is not for one moment to be aimed at. When the woman swept her house,
she did it to find her money, and not for the sake of raising a cloud.
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Do not aim at sensation and "effect." Flowing tears and streaming eyes,
sobs and outcries, crowded after-meetings and all kinds of confusions may
occur, and may be borne with as concomitants of genuine feeling; but pray do
not plan their production.
It very often happens that the converts that are born in excitement die when
the excitement is over. They are like certain insects which are the product of an
exceedingly warm day, and die when the sun goes down. Certain converts live
like salamanders, in the fire; but they expire at a reasonable temperature. I
delight not in the religion which needs or creates a hot head. Give me the
godliness which flourishes upon Calvary rather than upon Vesuvius. The
utmost zeal for Christ is consistent with common-sense and reason: raving,
ranting, and fanaticism are products of another zeal which is not according to
knowledge. We would prepare men for the chamber of communion, and not for
the padded room at Bedlam. No one is more sorry than I that such a caution as
this should be needful; but remembering the vagaries of certain wild revivalists,
I cannot say less, and I might say a great deal more.
What is the real winning of a soul for God? So far as this is done by
instrumentality, what are the processes by which a soul is led to God and to
salvation? I take it that one of its main operations consists in instructing a man
that he may know the truth of God. Instruction by the gospel is the
commencement of all real work upon men's minds. "Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Teaching
begins the work, and crowns it, too.
The gospel, according to Isaiah, is, "Incline your ear, and come unto Me:
hear, and your soul shall live." It is ours, then, to give men something worth
their hearing; in fact, to instruct them. We are sent to evangelize, or to preach
the gospel to every creature; and that is not done unless we teach them the great
truths of revelation. The gospel is good news. To listen to some preachers, you
would imagine that the gospel was a pinch of sacred snuff to make them wake
up, or a bottle of ardent spirits to excite their brains. It is nothing of the kind; it
is news, there is information in it, there is instruction in it concerning matters
which men need to know, and statements in it calculated to bless those who
hear it. It is not a magical incantation, or a charm, whose force consists in a
collection of sounds; it is a revelation of facts and truths which require
knowledge and belief. The gospel is a reasonable system, and it appeals to
men's understanding; it is a matter for thought and consideration, and it appeals
to the conscience and the reflecting powers. Hence, if we do not teach men
something, we may shout, "Believe! Believe! Believe!" but what are they to
believe? Each exhortation requires a corresponding instruction, or it will mean
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nothing. "Escape!" From what? This requires for its answer the doctrine of the
punishment of sin. "Fly!" But whither? Then must you preach Christ, and His
wounds; yea, and the clear doctrine of atonement by sacrifice. "Repent!" Of
what? Here you must answer such questions as, What is sin? What is the evil of
sin? What are the consequences of sin ? "Be converted!" But what is it to be
converted? By what power can we be converted? What from? What to? The
field of instruction is wide if men are to be made to know the truth which saves.
"That the soul be without knowledge, it is not good," and it is ours as the Lord's
instruments to make men so to know the truth that they may believe it, and feel
its power. We are not to try and save men in the dark, but in the power of the
Holy Ghost we are to seek to turn them from darkness to light.
And, do not believe, dear friends, that when you go into revival meetings,
or special evangelistic services, you are to leave out the doctrines of the gospel;
for you ought then to proclaim the doctrines of grace rather more than less.
Teach gospel doctrines clearly, affectionately, simply, and plainly, and
especially those truths which have a present and practical bearing upon man's
condition and God's grace. Some enthusiasts would seem to have imbibed the
notion that, as soon as a minister addresses the unconverted, he should
deliberately contradict his usual doctrinal discourses, because it is supposed
that there will be no conversions if he preaches the whole counsel of God. It
just comes to this, brethren, it is supposed that we are to conceal truth, and utter
a half-falsehood, in order to save souls. We are to speak the truth to God's
people because they will not hear anything else; but we are to wheedle sinners
into faith by exaggerating one part of truth, and hiding the rest until a more
convenient season. This is a strange theory, and yet many endorse it. According
to them, we may preach the redemption of a chosen number to God's people,
but universal redemption must be our doctrine when we speak with the outside
world; we are to tell believers that salvation is all of grace, but sinners are to be
spoken with as if they were to save themselves; we are to inform Christians that
God the Holy Spirit alone can convert, but when we talk with the unsaved, the
Holy Ghost is scarcely to be named. We have not so learned Christ. Thus others
have done; let them be our beacons, and not our examples. He who sent us to
win souls neither permits us to invent false-hoods, nor to suppress truth. His
work can be done without such suspicious methods.
Perhaps some of you will reply, "But, still, God has blessed half-statements
and wild assertions." Be not quite so sure. I venture to assert that God does not
bless falsehood; He may bless the truth which is mixed up with error; but much
more of blessing would have come if the preaching had been more in
accordance with His own Word. I cannot admit that the Lord blesses
evangelistic Jesuitism, and the suppression of truth is not too harshly named
when I so describe it. The withholding of the doctrine of the total depravity of
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man has wrought serious mischief to many who have listened to a certain kind
of preaching. These people do not get a true healing because they do not know
the disease under which they are suffering; they are never truly clothed because
nothing is done towards stripping them. In many ministries, there is not enough
of probing the heart and arousing the conscience by the revelation of man's
alienation from God, and by the declaration of the selfishness and the
wickedness of such a state. Men need to be told that, except divine grace shall
bring them out of their enmity to God, they must eternally perish; and they
must be reminded of the sovereignty of God, that He is not obliged to bring
them out of this state, that He would be right and just if He left them in such a
condition, that they have no merit to plead before Him, and no claims upon
Him, but that if they are to be saved, it must be by grace, and by grace alone.
The preacher's work is to throw sinners down in utter helplessness, that they
may be compelled to look up to Him who alone can help them.
To try to win a soul for Christ by keeping that soul in ignorance of any
truth, is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to endeavour to save men by
mere claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as to hope to
hold an angel with bird-lime, or lure a star with music. The best attraction is the
gospel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth
as it is in Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency; an arrow
which can pierce the hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest wound.
Preach it, and preach nothing else. Rely implicitly upon the old, old gospel.
You need no other nets when you fish for men; those your Master has given
you are strong enough for the great fishes, and have meshes fine enough to hold
the little ones. Spread these nets and no others, and you need not fear the
fulfilment of His Word, "I will make you fishers of men."

Secondly, to win a soul, it is necessary, not only to instruct our hearer,
and make him know the truth, but to impress him so that he may feel it.

A purely didactic ministry, which should always appeal to the understanding,
and should leave the emotions untouched, would certainly be a limping
ministry. "The legs of the lame are not equal," says Solomon; and the unequal
legs of some ministries cripple them. We have seen such an one limping about
with a long doctrinal leg, but a very short emotional leg. It is a horrible thing
for a man to be so doctrinal that he can speak coolly of the doom of the wicked,
so that, if he does not actually praise God for it, it costs him no anguish of heart
to think of the ruin of millions of our race. This is horrible! I hate to hear the
terrors of the Lord proclaimed by men whose hard visages, harsh tones, and
unfeeling spirit betray a sort of doctrinal desiccation: all the milk of human
kindness is dried out of them. Having no feeling himself, such a preacher
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creates none, and the people sit and listen while he keeps to dry, lifeless
statements, until they come to value him for being "sound", and they
themselves come to be sound, too; and I need not add, sound asleep also, or
what life they have is spent in sniffing out heresy, and making earnest men
offenders for a word. Into this spirit may we never be baptized! Whatever I
believe, or do not believe, the command to love my neighbour as myself still
retains its claim upon me, and God forbid that any views or opinions should so
contract my soul, and harden my heart as to make me forget this law of love!
The love of God is first, but this by no means lessens the obligation of love to
man; in fact, the first command includes the second. We are to seek our
neighbour's conversion because we love him, and we are to speak to him in
loving terms God's loving gospel, because our heart desires his eternal good.
A sinner has a heart as well as a head; a sinner has emotions as well as
thoughts; and we must appeal to both. A sinner will never be converted until
his emotions are stirred. Unless he feels sorrow for sin, and unless he has some
measure of joy in the reception of the Word, you cannot have much hope of
him. The Truth must soak into the soul, and dye it with its own colour. The
Word must be like a strong wind sweeping through the whole heart, and
swaying the whole man, even as a field of ripening corn waves in the summer
breeze. Religion without emotion is religion without life.
But, still, we must mind how these emotions are caused. Do not play upon
the mind by exciting feelings which are not spiritual. Some preachers are very
fond of introducing funerals and dying children into their discourses, and they
make the people weep through sheer natural affection. This may lead up to
something better, but in itself what is its value? What is the good of opening up
a mother's griefs or a widow's sorrows? I do not believe that our merciful Lord
has sent us to make men weep over their departed relatives by digging anew
their graves, and rehearsing past scenes of bereavement and woe. Why should
He? It is granted that you may profitably employ the death-bed of a departing
Christian, or of a dying sinner, for proof of the rest of faith in the one case, and
the terror of conscience in the other; but it is out of the fact proved, and not out
of the illustration itself, that the good must arise. Natural grief is of no service
in itself; indeed, we look upon it as a distraction from higher thoughts, and as a
price too great to exact from tender hearts, unless we can repay them by
engrafting lasting spiritual impressions upon the stock of natural affection. "It
was a very splendid oration, full of pathos," says one who heard it. Yes, but
what is the practical outcome of this pathos? A young preacher once remarked,
"Were you not greatly struck to see so large a congregation weeping?" "Yes,"
said his judicious friend, "but I was more struck with the reflection that they
would probably have wept more at a play." Exactly so; and the weeping in both
cases may be equally valueless. I saw a girl on board a steamboat reading a
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